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Study on Large-Scale Brain Network Abnormalities in Patients With Beta-Thalassemia
Mingrui Yang1,2, Guowei Chen1, Peng Peng1,3
1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
Brain and Behavior
|June 17, 2025
Summary
Beta-thalassemia major patients show altered brain connectivity, with reduced functional connectivity within key networks and altered inter-network connections. These changes impact cognitive, attention, and sensory functions due to chronic anemia and hypoxia.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Hematology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Beta-thalassemia major (β-TM) is a hereditary blood disorder causing chronic anemia and hypoxia.
- These conditions can significantly impact brain function and neurocognition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically evaluate intra-brain network functional connectivity (FC) and inter-network functional connectivity (FNC) alterations in β-TM patients.
- To uncover potential mechanisms of neurofunctional impairments in β-TM using rs-fMRI and ICA.
Main Methods:
- Included 72 β-TM patients and 50 healthy controls (HC).
- Utilized resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to collect brain functional data.
- Applied independent component analysis (ICA) to extract 14 resting-state functional networks (RSNs) and compared FC and FNC between groups.
Main Results:
- Reduced FC observed in anterior default mode network (aDMN), posterior default mode network (pDMN), frontoparietal networks (lFPN, rFPN), ventral attention network (VAN), and executive control network (ECN).
- Increased FC noted in dorsal sensorimotor network (dSMN) and posterior visual network (pVN).
- Altered FNC showed enhanced connectivity between lFPN-rFPN and DAN-VAN, but weakened connectivity between DAN and lFPN, ECN, auditory network (AN), salience network (SN), and between pVN-dSMN.
Conclusions:
- β-TM patients exhibit significant brain network abnormalities characterized by alternating patterns of enhanced and weakened connectivity.
- These disruptions affect cognitive control, attention, and sensory integration, highlighting the impact of chronic anemia and hypoxia on brain function.
